


Spider-Man: Web of Storms

by Blad3Zer0



Category: Spider-Man (Comicverse), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man Web of Shadows
Genre: Empaths, F/M, Love Triangles, M/M, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Secret Plans Are Never Secret For Long, Symbiote - Freeform, X-Men Cameos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-07-29 11:49:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7683379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blad3Zer0/pseuds/Blad3Zer0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five years have passed since the symbiote outbreak caused by Venom nearly consumed Manhattan. With not a trace of them seen since, SHIELD has labeled the threat as purged. Now, a series of seemingly unrelated murders threatens to plunge New York and the rest of the world into that dark abyss once more.</p><p>A sequel to the Spider-Man: Web of Shadows game, since we never got one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue -- Recap

It was the year 2008. The supervillian colloquially known as Venom had ambushed the amazing Spider-Man yet again. Only during the course of this particular conquest something unexpected occurred. The symbiote had replicated onto the vigilante, bringing about the return of the Black Suit. The additional power bestowed unto his foe forced Venom to retreat, laying low until he could strike back.

Initially unbeknownst to our hero or most of New York, the Venom symbiote was still reproducing uncontrollably, requiring Venom to abduct countless hosts. In the span of merely four days, New York City was placed under quarantine and martial law, with SHIELD destroying nearly every viable exit. In a last ditch effort to save Manhattan, Spider-Man broke the Tinkerer out of Rikers Island in order to construct a device that could cleanse the symbiote infestation without killing the hosts.

The plan worked, though unfortunately a last ditch effort by Venom to spread the infestation beyond New York resulted in the takeover of one of SHIELD's helicarriers, forcing the hero and various allies to destroy it, along with Venom himself.

Unbeknownst to any hero, not all the symbiotes had been destroyed. Through methods unknown, various specimens either escaped beyond the borders, or were covertly collected prior to the purge.

This is where we come in. After all, you're undoubtedly wondering how we of all people would know of this.

To the few people who even know of our existence we are called Aequitas. To the rest of the world only one of us is presented as Allen Cyrano Etheridge, or the nickname 'Ace.' 

It's been five years since the disaster in New York City, and we've done a pretty good job of keeping a low profile. Of course, living on the other side of the country made that somewhat easier.

At least, it was easier until about three days ago when a series of murders began, including an attempted one of which we were the target...rather, I was. Evidently the would-be killer hadn't anticipated his target being bonded to a symbiote.

Long story short, someone has been killing a bunch of people over a massive age range, and almost killed us. We escaped, only to find no answers as to who wants us dead or why. Only a list of the remaining bounties recovered from the would-be asssassin, and the locations of those targets.

Hence our arrival here in New York; Whatever happened back then has lead to this insanity.


	2. Welcome to New York

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having only just arrived in New York, Allen will be hard-pressed to catch a break.

_It had been five years since Venom's blaze-of-glory. Given that no one had seen Carnage since that time either, I'd somehow convinced myself I'd never see a Symbiote again._

_Then, just another day in New York, **he** showed up._

_Okay no, that kinda implies that he found me. I actually found_ him _in the middle of a patrol, my spider-sense quickly warning me of the danger he was in._

Two thugs, one holding a young man at gunpoint while the other was rifling through his backpack.

“What's a pretty boy like you doing all by his lonesome, huh?” A thug jeered as his buddy callously shoved items out and in.

“ _Trying_ to avoid attracting attention,” the boy said. “It obviously hasn't been working.”

_It was the stereotypical bystander-caught-in-a-shady-alley scenario, although in this instance the bystander was definitely not ordinary._

The would be victim almost seemed completely unconcerned about his predicament, eyes repeatedly trailing back to the gun were the only giveaway of his calm façade.

“Are you guys that hard-pressed on cash?” he said. “'Cause I know a good welfare program that would suit you until you're back on your feet.”

“Hey, me too!” Spider-Man called out, getting the thugs' attention. “You even get your own eight-by-eight bedroom!”

The thug whose gun was previously trained on the kid was now aimed towards Spider-Man, but before he could even get a single shot out, the kid grabbed his arm and did a roundhouse kick, then disarmed the man while he was stunned.

Momentarily forgetting Spider-Man's presence, the other thug moved to aid his buddy, knife in hand and charging towards the kid. He was prepared, however, and dodged the first swipe as Spider-Man shot a web-line towards the thug, promptly zip-kicking him to the ground.

With both thugs subdued and webbed, the hero turned his attention to the kid, who was checking the contents of his bag.

“Oh, hey,” said kid remarked off-handedly as he examined a pill bottle. “Thanks for the assist. You saved me from having to replace my medication.”

The kid suddenly paused as what he said dawned on him. “Uh...oh Gods that did not come out right. I'm sorry. Let me try that again: Thank you for saving my life Spider-Man, I owe you one.”

“Not at all,” Spidey assured, smiling behind the mask. “This is what I do.”

The kid gave a weak smirk as he zipped up his backpack. “It's just a shame that you still have to in this day and age.”

“Huh,” Spidey trailed from the subject, remembering the thugs he'd just fought. “They didn't take a lot out of that bag.”

The kid shrugged. “There wasn't much to take out. I travel light, plus I just got here, so I haven't really had a chance to get anything worth stealing.”

“Just got here? From where?”

The kid raised an eyebrow at the sudden inquisitive streak of his savior. “California. I'm on vacation, visiting a friend here.”

“Well here's hoping your vacation doesn't involve any more robberies,” Spidey joked.“Or attempted murder. Thanks again for the help. Name's Allen, by the way.”

“Anytime, Allen, take care.” With that, Spidey zipped away to the rest of his patrol. As soon as he was out of eyesight, Allen let out a frustrated sigh.

“Gods damn it. Only a few hours and already I run into him. I gotta speed this up.”

\------

Two hours later, Allen found himself at a walkway just below the exit of the Queensboro bridge. His “friend” was somewhere in the water and he hoped he'd meandered to the right area.

At least he had the empathic link to help give him a general idea of where to go.

A faint smile crossed his lips as he heard a faint sloshing sound somewhere to his right. Gradually, Allen picked up his walking into a slow jog until he reached a dock, momentarily and conveniently clear of witnesses.

Leaning over the edge, Allen reached his hand out towards a black mass floating on the water's surface. Tendrils quickly shot up to meet it, multiplying until the mass itself shifted from the water to his body. Faster than you could say Venom, the two rapidly re-bonded and the symbiote reverted back into Allen's casual attire.

“I missed you,” Allen whispered, returning to the walkway and blending with the populace.

<When you did not arrive on schedule,> the symbiote replied almost chastisingly. <...I feared the worst.>

“I know. I was delayed by a few would-be robbers...and Spider-Man.”

<Already? Wasn't the plan to _minimize_ contact with the Spider? >

“Depending on how this investigation goes, we may not have that luxury.” Allen turned a corner and disappeared into another alley, putting down and opening his backpack, this time opening a secret pocket in the farthest back opening. Taking out and unfolding a piece of paper, Allen quickly skimmed through the list of names.

“To be perfectly honest we're lucky no one tried to kill me on the plane.”

<Either none of the hunters were there, or they thought I was still with you.>

“Regardless, we both made it. Now we can start looking for the New Yorkers on this list.”

Deciding on the first person to search for, Allen put the list back in the backpack and zipped it up.

“...and pray that they're still alive.”


	3. First Disaster of the Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when Allen has a lead, people have already geared up to kill him and his lead. Meanwhile, Spider-Man's already starting to figure out why Allen is actually in New York.

“Yes, I'll have a venti peach green tea lemonade, and...” Allen trailed as he looked at Starbucks' bakery assortment. “...a double chocolate brownie, please.”

 { _I know you need your chocolate,_ } he whispered in his mind. { _Will that tide you over?_ }

 < _For a short time,_ > the symbiote affirmed. Allen raised his eyebrow skeptically over that rather vague assessment. { _We'll supplement that with some of those giant Reese's cups later, then._ }

 While he waited for his order he decided to set down and open his backpack. Reaching into one of the empty pockets, he waited until a laptop materialized where his hand had set.

 < _Did the Spider witness-- >_

 “No,” Allen whispered aloud as he partially zipped the bag back up. “As a matter of fact he saw nothing of consequence.”

 “Sir?” A barista called Allen's attention back to the bar. “Oh, thank you,” he said as he received his order. He took about a minute to examine the tables, most of which were two-seaters being used by at least one person.

“Well...shit.” Allen muttered as the reality of his situation came back in full force. All of the tables were right by a window, and anyone could just shoot him from afar and it would be over...

< _Perhaps we could eat elsewhere? How likely will our hunters attack us in broad daylight? >  
  
_{ _They were willing to take shots at us at the library back home, at this rate I wouldn't put anything past them._ }

He studied the table occupants until coming across a woman he surmised was close to if not the same age as himself. Course of action decided, he moved to approach her.

{ _We'll just have to make our search--and departure--as prompt as possible._ }

“Excuse me miss,” he asked, a little perturbed that she didn't even look up at him. “Is this seat taken?”  
  
“Go ahead,” she answered with a nonchalant wave at the chair, ensconced in some novel she was reading.

“Thanks,” he mumbled as he sat and took out his laptop. Thankfully it had only been asleep so it wasn't long before he was able to connect to the Starbucks WiFi and boot up Firefox.

{ _Okay, now for a simple Google search. The target's name..._ }

< _Maria Hannigan-Bridgecombe._ > the symbiote supplied.

As Allen expected, the top results were Facebook and LinkedIn pages. Settling for Facebook, Allen did a quick skim over the few details available without friendship status: Recent photos, music...she really liked Amy Lee and Evanescence, and if the photos were anything to go by, both had inspired her makeup and fashion style. She was also really into science fiction and fantasy novels...

{ _Wait a minute..._ } Allen looked up from his laptop back to the woman sitting on the other side from him reading, then back to the laptop, then to her again.

< _That's her._ >

Great, so whoever was hunting them down would be able to take them both out at the same time. Today was going _really_ well so far.

{ _Scan as far out around this building as you can, alert me at the first anomaly you find._ }

< _Very well. What are you going to do?_ >

Allen huffed as he braced himself for what could be his second-toughest task yet.  
  
{ _Get this girl to talk to us._ }

______

_I'd been impressed by the way Allen handled himself in that fight yesterday, so it was just a little disappointing that I had to leave so soon afterwards. I figured that was the last I would see of him, given he was only here on vacation._

_I'm glad I'd told MJ about him shortly afterwards. Thanks to her, it didn't take long before I found out that was a boldfaced lie._

_A rendezvous of his almost turned into a double homicide, and probably would have if I hadn't stepped in._

In the midst of an uneventful patrol, Peter's iPhone went off, MJ's ringtone playing. Within the next five seconds the phone was automatically answered.

“Hey MJ, what's--”  
  
“Peter,” MJ interrupted, her voice sounded alarmingly frantic. “Drop whatever you're doing if you can and find that Allen kid!”

“Why? What's wrong?”  
  
“I checked the name not long after we talked. There was a shooting at a library in Banning two days ago. One of the employees in that building was a young man by the name of Allen. He apparently quit his job afterwards, and he was reported missing _this_ morning.”  
  
Just before Peter could question her certainty on whether this was the same Allen, his spider-sense was flaring. Tracking the source, he saw a figure on a rooftop having just finished assembling a sniper rifle.

A slightly closer examination revealed said figure to be Kraven the Hunter.

“Thanks, MJ; I'm on it. Call you back soon.”

_I knew I was missing some crucial pieces of the puzzle, but if you were an ordinary citizen you didn't often get into the kind of trouble that followed you between states. What did Allen do to get this kind of attention? And if Kraven was after him after only having just got here yesterday, who else knew about his arrival?_

Before long, Kraven was on the move. Peter decided to follow him, hoping he'd get answers one way or another.

______

“Excuse me,”

Maria looked up from her book to the boy in front of her.

“I couldn't help notice the novel you were reading, I've seen quite a number of copies sold at the library I work at. Is it good?”

Maria shrugged. “Well I think so. One of the criticisms that I kind of agree with is that it's slightly more dramatic than it has to be.”  
  
Allen chuckled. “Quite a few stories are guilty of that. So what's its best quality, then?”  
  
“The reaction to the science in the plot. Like...” Maria trailed as she struggled to explain. “...the big idea isn't sound, but, you get to see what the character's thinking is...”  
  
“...and the reasoning makes you sympathetic to his motives,” Allen finished. “I like that.”

“I don't even remember what made me pick this up,” Maria admitted. “I think this is the first work of hers, since I haven't seen this name anywhere else.”

“Well, I guess I'll have to get a copy of my own when I get back home. On vacation from California,” Allen added at her curious look.

< _Allen, there's a vehicle approaching this way at high speed._ >

{ _Thanks. Keep an eye on it, but look out for anything else._ }

“Cool, but...why wait? There are plenty of bookstores you could visit while you're here.”  
  
{ _Fuck_.} Allen cursed himself for that screw-up.

< _We are running out of time, Allen._ > the symbiote warned. < _You may have to forego your usual social customs and simply make the inquiry._ >  
  
{ _I do that and she'll refuse to talk to us again._ } Allen reminded. { _We're probably not going to have our opening until after we are attacked._ }

“Honestly, because I'm not sure how much time I'll have to enjoy it,” he answered. “I'm visiting a friend, and he's a particularly active guy. Between all the outdoor stuff we're likely to do I'd probably be exhausted by the time we turned in. Not to mention that once it's time to go home I'd probably leave the book by mistake.”

“Oh Gods,” Allen suddenly exclaimed. “All this talking and I don't even bother to introduce myself. I'm Allen,” He reached his hand out to her. “...Allen Etheridge.”  
  
“Maria Bridgecombe,” she accepted the proffered hand. “So do you come here often for vacations?”  
  
“No, actually, first time.” Allen admitted. “Decided to come here after--”  
  
< **ACE!!** > the alien screamed in his mind. Then he heard it, the screeching of a car rapidly accelerating.

He only had seconds to flip the table sideways and grab and shield a protesting Maria.

______

Peter just narrowly missed the bullet fired at him during his zip-line to the sniper that fired it. A swing kick and it was over for the aggressor.

_Chasing a crook? Easy. Chasing a crook while making sure they don't see you? A little more difficult._

_Add snipers on the rooftops looking specifically for yours truly? Well okay, not **that** much harder for me really, just annoying._

_I knew they were either here to take Allen out themselves, or they were working with Kraven and trying to throw me off his trail._

_I had to hand it to them though, they were professionals._

The spider-sense quickly turned his attention to a car speeding out of control...and crashing through a window into a Starbucks.

_Well... **some** of them were professionals._

Peter could tell from the acceleration that the crash was deliberate, which likely meant Allen was in there, along with a bunch of unlucky bystanders. Quickly leaping into action, Peter hurried to the rescue.

Fortunately most of the occupants had time to get clear of the car before the crash. The driver of said car was either unconscious or dead. A quick scan found a woman leaning by a table, appearing to be unhurt.

"Can you move, miss?”

She shook her head. “They're taking shots at us, at me.”

And yet, not a single shot had yet been fired since he showed up.

“That's what the guy said before he left,” the woman continued. “That they're trying to kill us both.”

“What guy?”

“Allen..Etheridge,” she said the name belatedly, having nearly forgotten it. “Said to keep my head down and that we'd talk later. Then he ran off to...I don't know...”  
  
_It was the fact that he could even move much less run after what happened here that really set off alarm bells in my head... and what this woman told me proved that he had at least some idea of what this was about._

_What really pissed me off was that he was sure she was a target and he left her anyway._

Then came the gunshots.

“Stay down!” he ordered as he shot a web out towards the attacker. A zip-kick and a web missile later and he was down for the count. Rinse and repeat.

It wasn't until after they were all subdued that he realized there was no sign of Kraven. With the immediate crisis having been resolved, he webbed his way back to the Starbucks.

“Where the hell did you go?” he heard the woman say. As he entered he saw that Allen had returned.

“I was trying to lure that other guy away,” he said.

“Who?” Spidey inquired. “Kraven?”  
  
Allen shrugged. “I don't even know who that is...but I managed to lose the guy.”

“Well...” Spidey trailed. “Great. Look, I have questions for both of you, but this is not the place for them. The police are probably going to want statements from the two of you. When that's done, we'll talk about this somewhere less conspicuous.”

“Wow...okay...” Allen quipped in mild surprise. “You're really going to stick around until the cops are done with us?”  
  
“Well given the trouble you've been in since Banning,” Peter retorted. “...I figure I probably shouldn't wander too far away from you.”

“Wait, hold on,” Maria interjected. “What trouble? I thought you said—so you're _not_ on vacation.”

Allen huffed and shook his head in irritation. “Like he said, we can talk about this after we're done here.”


End file.
